Is this goodbye?

Date: 1st September 2023
The orange-red rays were just escaping from above the horizon as Jess and Felix sat together on the roof of his house, taking in their final sunrise - well, that wasn't exactly true. Only, it was their final sunrise before Jess left for Hogwarts later that day.

The difficult thing was, Jess had no way of telling Felix where she was really going. Her dad had explained time and time again the necessity of the Statute of Magical Secrecy, so she had been forced to make up that she was going to an international boarding school, and that she wasn't allowed her phone or any other outside communication, so it'd be best if Felix just waited for her to get back before he tried to speak to her again. You can imagine how that went down.

But here they were, sat together on the roof of his house, taking in their final sunrise. The silence between them was much more eloquent than anything the two 11-year-olds could come up with. They both wanted to say so much, but was there really any point? Jess, at least, knew there was no point.

For a few moments, their breathing fell into sync, and they took in the stunning beauty of the glowing horizon.
"Jess—?"
"Don't ruin it, Felix", Jess sighed as she turned to face her best friend. They exchanged a telling look of sorrow. Jess looked down in shame.

"We'll miss you at school, you know. I mean, I'll miss you more than them, obviously, and if there's any way I could—"
Before Felix was able to finish, Jess had pulled him into a tight embrace. Although briefly squirmish, Felix finally settled into the hug. Jess barely noticed the tears that were falling down her cheeks.

Felix had no idea of all that lay in front of her. He would never experience the magical world, he would never even get to see magic without being hauled away by Obliviators. How was that fair? How was she allowed that privilege, when someone so much more deserving would be left behind in the boring old Muggle world?

Jess vividly remembered everything her dad had told her about Hogwarts - how, once you were there, you'd never want to leave, and that aside from the summer holidays every year, you rarely came home, and even then, you mostly spent the summer at friends' houses. When she thought about it all now, Jess realised exactly what it meant for her time with Felix; those 'friends' her dad talked about weren't muggles, they were Hogwarts students. And since Felix would never be a wizard, Jess' friendship with him was drawing to a close.

Jess' crying intensified. Felix did his best to make her feel better.
"It's only a year. Then we'll have summer holidays, and we can spend all day every day catching up! This isn't really goodbye. Just for now."
Felix searched her eyes for reassurance. Jess attempted a weak smile - she couldn't bring herself to tell him the truth.
"Yeah, you're right. It's just goodbye for now"
More like forever.